Communication sciences
Communication sciences is an interdisciplinary field studying human communication, including speech, language, hearing, and communication disorders.
Speech-language pathology: A clinical profession that assesses and treats communication and swallowing disorders. It applies communication research to assessment and treatment of speech, language, and swallowing difficulties.
Augmentative and alternative communication: Methods and tools that supplement or replace speech for people with communication needs. It translates communication research into practical ways to express messages beyond spoken speech.
Raymond Carhart: An American audiologist who helped establish audiology as a profession after World War II. His work helped shape the hearing-science component of modern communication sciences.
Linguistics: The scientific study of language structure, use, change, and acquisition. Linguistics studies language broadly, while communication sciences also emphasize hearing and clinical communication.
Audiology: The health profession concerned with hearing and balance, including assessment, rehabilitation, and prevention. Hearing science is one of the field’s central strands.
Assistive listening device: A device that improves access to sound by transmitting or amplifying audio for a listener. Hearing research guides technologies that improve access to speech in difficult listening environments.
Wendell Johnson: An American speech pathologist and linguist known for research on stuttering and language development. His work illustrates early efforts to connect speech disorders with language and learning.
Cognitive science: An interdisciplinary study of the mind and intelligence, including perception, memory, and language. Cognitive science addresses mental processes across domains, not primarily communication and its disorders.
Phonetics: The study of speech sounds, including how they are produced, transmitted, and perceived. It provides tools for analyzing the physical properties of spoken communication.
Language assessment: The systematic evaluation of language abilities using observation, interviews, and structured measures. Assessment methods draw on evidence about typical and disordered language.